Rating: 
Summary: A Page Turner!
Review: As a mother of three and a wife with a full time job, I somehow found time to read this book. My mother, who is not a big reader, bought it and read it in no time. She highly recommended it. So I started it yesterday and just finished it an hour ago. I was hooked on the first page! I thought it was an amazing idea for a novel, a murdered girl talking about her murder, her life before her murder and her family's life afterward as they tried to cope. I was not terribly thrilled with the ending, but in a way it was fitting. I am thinking about purchasing another book of Sebold's to see if it as well written. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: A true book of Heavens
Review: This is an amazing book. It is one that takes the reader on a journey through the mind of a little girl. I read it, and I wasn't saddened, I was hurt. We grow so close to Susie, that she is like our sister, someone we love closely about. This is amazing, and I suggest it to anyone who wants a little life but back in them.
Rating: 
Summary: somewhat of a letdown
Review: When I started reading this book I couldn't put it down, what you would call a page turner. But by the last quarter of the book I became very disappointed. Maybe I missed something but I've talked to other people who have read this book and they say the same thing I do. Read it for yourself and see what you think, I wouldn't call it a waste of time. All in all I have to agree with the first review, doesn't quite deliver.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious
Review: I agree with one reviewer already posted on two points. Firstly, the emotional impact of Susie Salmon's rape and murder is a bit lessened by the ridiculous detail of her elbow being found. How likely is that? Maybe I'm just a stickler for detail, but an elbow is extremely difficult to detach from the body. Secondly, the manner of Susie's murderer's death is trite and silly. It undoes the author's hard work at creating suspense around his capture. I would add that the dialoges between the characters seem completely unrealistic, especially those between young people. As I recall, love affairs in middles school were less than touchy, sentimental affairs. They were confused, superficial, and awkeward and usually did spell the beginning of life long romance. I guess what I was missing in the portrayal of youth and basically in all the characters (save the serial killer, of course) was the dark side. Everyone is so nice to each other and says all the right things (albeit in short, clipped sentences) even at the ages of 13 and 14. Whatever dark emotions are felt by the characters are never expressed in dialogue but rather by completely radical acts like hunting people in corn fields with baseball bats and running away to California. I had the feeling the Salmon family was a bit autistic. Are we to believe that that is what the death of a loved one does to us? Even Susie herself is amazingly even tempered considering the rage one would expect her to have. As another reviewer also pointed out, she sqanders her time on earth to have sex instead of revealing the location (which the omniscient Susie has seen) of her murderer. Not only is that a bit difficult to believe but makes her morally culpable in his future killings. Also, what kind of heaven are we talking about where people don't have sex? I think I'll close by saying that I found the author's description of heaven a bit claustrophobic and creapy. Why or why would she have wanted a carbon copy of her school in heaven? Why is she seemingly alone most of the time except for one depressing little girl and a murder counselor? It was implied that she wasn't in heaven proper yet because she hadn't let go. Catholics call this purgatory. Oh well. I guess that doesn't have the same ring to it as heaven. Reading this book was like being in purgatory. That about sums it up.
Rating:
Summary: A Concerted Effort to Make Alice Feel Good
Review: I read this piece, and when I say piece, I'm politely leaving off two words, a couple months ago when I picked it up in an air port. I had a long flight. I'm glad it was just a book and not the in-flight movie, or else people would have been walking out. As it was, I had the luxury of being able to stare out the window for hours at a time rather than read through this book so fast.I had heard so many good things about this book! After readng it for myself, I had to wonder: why on earth would anyone like it? Well, a few weeks ago, I was in a book store and saw another book by the same author. It was a memoir about dealing with a brutal rape. The similarity in subject matter made the final piece of the mystery fall into place. NOW I knew why so many people liked the book. Pity. People have attached some kind of expression of sympathy to the book, showing their support for the victim of a random act of violence by pretending that this novel is a wonderful work of fiction. Every single person I've spoken to who has liked this book has mentioned the author's victimhood. This isn't Alice Sebold's book. It's that rape victim's book. Come on, people. Wake up and smell the roses. Sure, it's a shame that the writer was a victim, but her being a victim doesn't make her any better at writing.
Rating:
Summary: One word for this book WONDERFUL......
Review: I absolutely loved this book!!!
I love reading, and it has been such a long time since I have found a book that just grabbed me from the first page on. Well this book has done it. I read the whole book in 3 days with such delight, absolutely wonderful!!!
I love new authors, they write with such passion and clerity, and Mrs. Sebold has done just that.
Trust me, from a women who loves a good book, this is a definite read!!!
Rating:
Summary: WOW...WOW...WOW
Review: You will either LOVE this book or HATE it. My mom and I loved it while my sister couldn't get past the first chapter. I recommend you continue to read. The book is imaginative, intriguing, and thought provoking. Alice Sebold takes her reader to places in the heart, soul, and spirit that no one has ever explored. Keep reading it, it won't let you down. And you'll have a hard time putting it down once you are hooked!
Rating:
Summary: I want more!
Review: It's a rarity, with me, that a book like this can capture my emotions so strongly and leave me wanting to live in this book longer. Sebold spins a tale of life and death that no other author has before her. The main character, Susie Salmon, has been brutally raped and dismembered in the cornfield behind the home she shares with her aloof mother, devoted father, brainy and beautiful younger sister, and 3 year old precocious brother. For the reader, this is not the end of the book, it's only the beginning. As Susie struggles to come to terms with all she has lost on earth in her version of Heaven, we watch the devastating effects her loss has on her family, and continue with them on their journey through life.
This book weaves a poignant tale of murder, grief, and moving on after death for not just the living, but the dead as well. Sebold stirs up the lives of those who knew and loved Susie Salmon in a way that reveals how heroic we ALL are. This book amazes the senses and leaves you feeling as if you have been part of an amazing journey that has changed you forever.
Rating:
Summary: incredibly touching
Review: This book touched me to my very core. I couldn't put it down, and once I finished it, i wanted to immediately reread it. It is one of those books that I will read and reread over and over again throughout my life. I recommend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: A great, fast read
Review: Though I seldom read fiction, and I'd heard the hype about this book I didn't believe, it was the only thing that looked at all good at a small airport bookstore when I needed some in-flight reading. I was pleasantly surprised by this wonderful book, and recommend it highly.
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